Boston Basics

Founded in 1630 by English Puritans, Boston is one of our nation’s oldest cities. It was home to fiery revolutionaries such as Samuel Adams, who staged the Boston Tea Party to protest taxation by King George III. From the Old North Church in today's North End, Paul Revere began his midnight ride to warn of the British invasion. Rooted in its 400-year history, the city is also known worldwide for the brownstone architecture built in historic Back Bay during the Gilded Age. Old neighborhoods and narrow, crooked streets throughout Boston, which are more fit for walking than driving, make it the nation’s most European-style city.

Beacon Hill

Boston's historic Beacon Hill neighborhood is known for its Federal-style rowhouses, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks. Located near Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden, this community is one of the most expensive and desirable in the city.

Back Bay

The Back Bay neighborhood is an upscale residential and commercial area with popular shopping districts such as Newbury Street. Victorian brownstone buildings populate its northern part, while some of Boston's tallest skyscrapers lie in the southern part.

Fenway Park

One of the last remaining baseball parks built during the golden era of the sport, Fenway Park opened in 1912. Players who have competed there include Cy Young, Babe Ruth (before he left for the New York Yankees), Ted Williams, Carlton Fisk and Carl Yastrzemski. Smack in the center of a downtown neighborhood, the park survived a fire in 1926 and an 86-year drought in which the Red Sox failed to win a World Series. The Sox “reversed the curse” in 2004 when they won and repeated in 2007 and 2013.

John Hancock Tower

Located in the Back Bay neighborhood, the John Hancock Tower has been the tallest building in Boston – and New England – for more than 30 years. The 60-story, 790-foot structure was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the firm I. M. Pei & Partners.

Boston Common

Boston Common is the anchor for the Emerald Necklace, a system of connected parks that winds through many of Boston's neighborhoods. Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the architect of New York's Central Park, the necklace connects the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester to Jamaica Pond in Jamaica Plain to the Fens near Fenway Park to Boston Common. The Common served as a cow pasture in 1600s Colonial Boston.

Old State House

The Old State House was the center of Boston in the 18th century and is home to some of the most historic events in the leadup to the American Revolution. Samuel Adams, James Otis, John Hancock and John Adams debated the future of the British colonies here. And it was outside of the State House that the first five men were killed in the Boston Massacre. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was announced to the citizens of Boston from the balcony.